EAST TRENT CHURCHES
Besthorpe, Clifton, Collingham,
Girton, Harby, Holme, Langford, South Scarle, Thorney, Winthorpe
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EAST TRENT CHURCHES
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MEDIEVAL SPAIN ADVENTURE After a long delay at LHR we landed in Madrid, weary but ready to go. Our first hotel was in Avila nestling in the snow-covered hills located outside the walls of the medieval city. So much for sunny Spain. My buddy or sighted guide for the trip was Trevor a farmer from Cumbria, what a role reversal he would be having. Then next day (still snowing) we visited Segovia’s famous Roman aqueduct. It is one of the finest in existence and has had to be shored up with large granite stones at the base to keep it steady. The passing traffic, now banned from the area, had caused the damage. On to Alcazar and it’s Gothic cathedral and fortress palace. Inside the cathedral were many windows and it was described to me as the Disney Fairytale Palace I remember before I lost my sight. It had a moat and a drawbridge, which we were able to cross. Our last stop for the day was the cathedral church of St Teresa. This famous saint erected many buildings in the area with some help from her friends, I assume. Compared to the other churches this one was considerably warmer than the rest. Sun shining,
we travelled over 200 miles to the foot of the snow The next day
we went to Merida another old Roman city with an A short journey of 165 miles saw us in Toledo after travelling through the former roman town of Talavera de a Reina with it’s Prado Virgin Hermitage. Toledo is beautifully situated on a plateau above the Rio Tajo. The roads here were very narrow with marks on the walls where they had been clipped by passing traffic. It was very quaint. We spent a day strolling round Toledo and visited the cathedral seat of Spain’s most important bishop. It was very ornate and full of gold plate. Another buddy Bob took me around the perimeter to give me some idea of its vast size. In the church of Santo Tome we saw the famous masterpiece by El Greco, the Burial of the Count of Orgaz. We also learnt that Spain has a lottery where the funds go to help re-employ the visual impaired.
On route in the mountains we passed seven windmills, we decided to visit one of them. I was not too happy about the spiral staircase to the top but heh; it was another experience for me. The last day we had a brief trip around Madrid taking in the majestic Royal Palace and the vast Retiro Park. Once again I did enjoy the sites and sounds of Medieval Spain. Keith
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I
had only ever thought of Spain as a destination for sun worshipping, I
was wrong. This trip was to explore the rich tradition, walled medieval cities
and majestic castles in the heart of the country.
covered Sierra de Bejar to the small-fortified town of the same name. Then
around the narrow streets to la Alberca, a traditional mountain village that had
just had electricity supplied to them. We then crossed the river Tagus and
explored the city of Caceres in the Western Province of Extremadura. It was a
very delightful city of Roman origin and later a Moorish stronghold. The 15th
& 16th century town houses for the nobles were splendid. In the
afternoon we sought out the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro the conqueror of
Peru at Trujillo. Overlooking the orange and olive tree covered plains the
famous storks were to be seen nesting on the church tower.
amphitheatre seating hundreds. We saw where the lions would have been kept and
had the seating arrangements explained to us. That is the area for the nobles
and the lower classes etcetera. There was an opera singer performing that day
which created a wonderful ambience. At the Roman museum we were allowed to touch
the exhibits, which was great for us but the guards kept a close eye on us in
case we had long pockets.
On
our last day we travelled through Don Quixote country, here we stopped at a bar,
as you do and saw students dressed in their national costume. They were
entertaining everyone and it made a pleasant change from all the walking and
travelling we had done to sit and relax. After that we called in at the Royal
Palace of Aranjuez, it was surrounded by beautiful grounds and fountains. One
was the size of a football pitch and was made up of many stone statues. It was
quite splendid.